My wife and i put down a deposit on a 2010 sw xb last night. i'm really excited and can't wait to pick her up in a few weeks. we're getting an armload of options so the car will have to be built. the dealership we bought the car from is quite a ways away from our home which will require freeway driving. what is the best way to break in the engine? My other car is a manual civic, so it wasn't much of a concern, but we're getting one with an auto tranny. any tips or links to site you guys can share would be greatly appreciated.

on a side note, i live in cali, what exactly is the law for no plate in the front. is it a fixit or non-fixit ticket? can any police officer sign off on it? my brother's a cop, so i'm wondering how much i'd able to get away with. i also got tint on the front windows to match the rear ones.

i can't wait.

 

You should just expose your transmission to a range of gears and speeds, but it's not recommended to drive past 80MPH (90MPH?) for the first 1000 miles. How many miles is between the dealership and your home? In my case, I had 300+ miles because I bought mine in SOCAL then I moved to NORCAL, I left SOCAL with about 150+ miles and got to NORCAL and had 400+ miles, that was a pretty sufficient break-in opportunity.

For the license plate, I'm pretty sure that'll be a fiix-it ticket the first time, someone correct me if I'm wrong. And tint on the front windows is only a matter of time!

Congratulations on your xB though!

 

As the jnaval said, expose it to a lot of different speeds and gears, don't stay on one speed while on the freeway. Just let it drop a few miles and then speed up a few miles if it is a long drive.

As far as tint, you can have it on the front windows just not past a certain %. Though unless you have limo tint or something close you usually won't get messed with.

The front license plate is a fix a ticket I believe and yes any CHP/Sheriff/Police officer can sign off on fix a tickets to my knowledge (I had one before and ran into a CHP at Taco Bell and had him sign off on my tint ticket).

Hope this helps and enjoy the new car!

 

redline every gear.....do some burnouts..speed fast......only kidding...im sure to break in a engine you shouldnt go past 4k rpm until like 500 miles or so

 

yea take it easy. i waited about a week. then went right into basically treating it like the tiny little sports box it is.

 

In California putting any level of tint on the front driver & passenger windows is not legal. As jnavel said, it's just a matter of time, especially if it's as dark as the rear. I added 50% tint to mine, and haven't had any problems yet, but you can clearly see the driver & passenger through the tint.

Additionally, no front license plate is a ticket that carries a fine with it, not just a fix-it ticket. It used to be a "fix-it" many years ago, but not anymore. With any luck you will get a warning before a ticket, but that is up to the discretion of the officer. A friend of mine in NorCal has put almost 50k miles on his xB with no front plate and hasn't been pulled over yet.

 

I apologize, you are correct, I was thinking of the rear window (you have to have side mirrors to tint your rear window). I agree though, as long as the tint isn't that dark you shouldn't get harassed for it, though this may change depending on the area.

The same goes for the Front Plate, my friend has done the same thing (gone tons of miles without it and hasn't had any issues).

 

Just do what the manual says to do...don't hold one speed, always speed up/slow down.

 

okay i feel stupid. the manual has instructions on how to properly break in the engine?

 

Yeah, there's a little section about engine break-in, it's in the table of contents.

 

Dont be afraid to get on it and get it up to the 5-6k rpm range.

 

My xB has just hit 3,000 miles,I was easy on it for the first 1,000 now just running service calls as fast as I can each day and trying to avoid getting a ticket from Johnny law.

Lovin the xB

 

How about changing the oil immediately after the break-in period?

I read on a few different websites/forums about breaking in new cars in general, (not scion/xb specifically), and several people/sites recommended changing the oil immediately after the break-in period. Something about metal slivers and other particles getting mixed in the oil during the break-in period.

I was at a Toyota shop getting my bad stereo replaced when I asked the service tech to change the oil (I was at 1000 miles and had been driving conservatively, and I had a free oil change certificate from that dealer). He talked me out of it, saying that there was special oil put in by the manufacturer and the special oil needed to be in there for 5000 miles.

 

best way to break it is open he oil cap under the hood an pour about a quart of water into it. that should do the job.


but on the real, every motor is broken in before the car gets to you, otherwise there would be bunch of cars that the rings would not seal up right because of people who as soon as they get it they go on a trip and put cruise control. break in period refers to when you put new rods/pistons in order fo the rings of the pistons to sit well.